Hundreds of supporters of the apparent leader in South Ossetia's presidential race are gathering outside the headquarters of the Central Election Commission amid concerns the election results are being rigged.

With most of the voting districts having reported their tallies, the commission released preliminary results on November 28 showing candidate Alla Dzhioyeva was leading with more than 56 percent of the vote against Kremlin-backed candidate Anatoly Bibilov, with some 40 percent.

South Ossetia's Supreme Court then announced it was looking into allegations of voting violations, sparking fears that former Education Minister Dzhioyeva would be deprived of her apparent victory.

Dzhioyeva called the court's actions "unprofessional" and said she would not recognize any decisions by the court to change the results of the election.

South Ossetia broke away from Georgia in a war in the 1990s.

Russia recognized South Ossetia's independence after a brief war with Georgia in 2008, but since then only a few other countries have followed the Kremlin's lead.